Articles
Ever-Lasting Justice Won't Be Denied
For several days in fall 1982, Americans were on edge as word spread thatseven people died of poisoning when theytook Tylenol pills laced with cyanide. The man who police suspected of committing the crimedied July 10:2013, without ever being punished directly for the deaths.
James Lewis did spend 13 years in prison on a related extortion charge, but the failure to try and convict him for the alleged murders will remain a historical sore point. “I was saddened to learn of James Lewis’ death,” said Jeremy Morgolis, who prosecuted the extortion case. “Not because he’s dead but because he didn’t die in prison.”
Imperfect systems of justice may make it possible for evil people like Lewis to get away with murder – for a while. But the guilty won’t escape judgment forever. They face an eternity “in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8).
The reality that wrongdoing sometimes goes unpunished is one of the most infuriating aspects of living in a carnal world. It’s worse when men tolerate, excuse and even glorify sin.
The stories of such wickedness abound in the news. Thieves pillage stores as people watch. Drug addicts occupy city streets and create homeless camps where crime runs rampant. Violent suspects get released without bail and commit more violence. Riots go unchallenged. The murder of innocents in the womb is deemed a mere choice, and the mutilation of children to change their God-given genders is celebrated as a “human right.”
Not only are injustices like these abominations to God, they run counter to His aim in establishing governments. Governments exist “for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right” (1 Peter 2:13-14). They are supposed to invoke fear in criminals, acting as “a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:1-4).
That mission might help explain why the government targeted Lewis for the crime of extortion after the Tylenol murders. Lewis’ demand for $1 million “to stop the killing” implied that he was behind the cyanide poisonings, so even though the government lacked the evidence to convict him of murder, they proved him guilty of something that resulted in jail time.
But “at least we got him for something” is an unsatisfying penalty for a crime that ended seven lives and terrorized every consumer of Tylenol. It’s the kind of inadequate resolution that could inspire thoughts of revenge, which is something else God doesn’t want (Romans 12:19-20).
Justice delayed, restrained or denied in this life also has consequences. “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly,” Solomon said, “therefore the hearts of the sons of mankind among them are fully given to do evil.” That truth is on display in America today.
But Solomon followed that observation by contrasting the fates of the good and evil in a way that’s important to keep in mind. “Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will go well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not go well for the evil person and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God” (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13).
Don’t lose heart when you see injustice. Don’t let it make you vengeful, even if a sin is against you or affects you personally. Take comfort in the words of David in Psalm 37:1-2: “Do not get upset because of evildoers, do not be envious of wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass, and decay like the green plants.”
